John Haynes

I'm John, the guy who created this wiki.

I'm 46 years old (at the time of this writing), and live just outside of Houston, TX (on the Northwest side).

You can find me actively posting on r/telescopes and Quora. I also post occasionally on CloudyNights and Stack Exchange (Astronomy Beta).

How I Got Started In Astronomy

When I was about 5, my family moved to a small city in the high desert of California. My dad had always been interested in astronomy, even had a small refractor for a while. When we moved to Ridgecrest, where the skies were clear and dark, he would take me out in the back yard, lay out a blanket, and we'd lay back and look up. He taught me the constellations and some bright stars, along with the planets. We'd sometimes use his binoculars to see the moons of Jupiter or see the craters on the moon. Around my 6th or 7th birthday he bought me a build-your-own telescope kit. We spent a couple weeks working on it, arranging the plastic lenses and f-stops, then gluing the plastic housing together. It wasn't a great telescope, or even a good one, by any means, but it was really meant as a learning tool. When I was 8, Nova on PBS premiered Carl Sagan's original Cosmos miniseries over the course of 13 weeks. Normally well past my bedtime, I was allowed to stay up with my dad to watch it those Tuesday nights. I remember parts of a few of the episodes pretty clearly, thought I also remember falling asleep during most of them.

My dad passed in 2008. Soon after I found myself in the Houston, TX area and not long later I bought my first telescope: a really lousy Meade 114mm Bird-Jones scope on an even lousier EQ1-style mount. Soon after, I joined the Houston Astronomical Society (HAS) and soon my interest became an obsession.

I've served in leadership positions with HAS, including managing the Loaner Telescope program, serving on the board of directors, and a term as Vice President. I am currently the chief trainer for the observatory at our dark site.

In 2015 I bought a house northwest of the city and in early 2017 I constructed My Observatory in my back yard.

Whenever I'm out under the stars, whether in my observatory, at the club's dark site, or just somewhere looking up, I feel my dad with me, looking over me, staring up with me. For me, it's a way to commune with and honor his memory, sharing in something he loved and loved to teach me about.

Main Astronomy Interests

My primary focus (no pun intended, for a change) is on astrophotography. I'm most interested in galaxies and globular clusters, but typically my imaging targets are targets of opportunity.

I find globular clusters fascinating, and one of my goals is to complete the Astronomical League's Globular Cluster Observing Program and earn my pin.

I also have a general interest in the optics and mechanics of telescopes and mounts. I've spent time maintaining and repairing several and I find it enjoyable to disassemble, clean, upgrade, and re-assemble them.

Equipment

Here's a list of the equipment I use.

Mounts:

iOptron iEQ45

German equatorial GoTo mount with 45 lbs payload capacity.

Purchased used from a member of my club along with the counterweight shaft extension and additional 15 lbs counterweight.

Has both Losmandy and Vixen-style dovetail saddles (separate, not a dual-saddle, but only requires 4 hex screws to swap out).

This is the original version with 8406 hand control and servo motors. The newer models use steppers and are somewhat more accurate. Still, it's a great mount.

Celestron CG-5-ASGT

German equatorial GoTo mount with 30 lbs payload capacity.

Purchased used off AstroMart in 2010 along with GPS add-on.

I originally hoped I could use it for AP. It really isn't accurate enough. With a light payload and short-focal length, it can do some tolerable wide-field images. Not much else.

Great for visual use, however. 30 lbs of payload for visual goes a long way. I COULD run a C11 off it. Usually my SCT rides on it.

Vixen Polaris Copy

German equatorial mount without clock drive or GoTo. Unknown capacity guesstimated at 30 lbs +/-.

Not sure who built this. It might be an early CG-5, might not. The CG-5 and a number of others are direct copies of the Polaris.

It had motors on it when I got it, but no cabling or electronics to power/run it.

Currently gathering dust, but I intend to refurbish and use it for visual.

Unknown Manufacturer EQ3-class mount

German equatorial mount without clock drive or GoTo. Unknown capacity guesstimated at 20 lbs +/-.

Another unknown. I bought this with an 8" f/4 Newtonian off a friend. Be bought it a year earlier for $100 off Craigslist... sold it to me for the same.

The mount was missing the counterweight shaft and weights. I had some that fit. I was more interested in the scope. This isn't a horrible mount, but isn't a good one either. Works ok with my 90 mm refractor for visual use.

Meade EQ1-class mount

Not much to say about this other than junk. EQ1 mounts are nearly pointless. Came with my 114 mm Meade. Its gathering dust and probably will stay that way.